Areas Prone to Natural Disasters
KEY :
Drought
Forest Fires
Tropical Cyclones ( aka Hurricanes or Typhoons )
Major Ea�hquakes
Paraná River Basin , Brazil
So-called “ 100-year droughts ” have hit the Amazon three times in just the last 10 years . The 2015-2016 event struck an area of forest 20 % greater than any other extreme drought , killing off many trees and releasing millions of tons of CO 2 into the atmosphere .
Since 2021 , an unprecedented , prolonged drought in the Paraná River Basin in Brazil is draining lagoons and disrupting the breeding cycles of native birds in the species-rich Várzeas do Rio Ivinhema State Park refuge . Large-scale monoculture in the region has cleared most of the surrounding forests and increased fire risk .
Brazilian Amazon
There were more fires in August of 2022 than occurred in any other August since 2010 , clearly linked to deforestation . In 2019 , thousands of blazes spread across more than 308,800 acres in Amazonia , shockin the world and threatening more than 1,000 species .
South Africa
Our partner in the Critically Endangered Geometric Tortoise project in South Africa , the South Africa Tortoise Conservation Tru has been clearing invasive vegeta and creating fire breaks to protec rare tortoise from uncontrolled fi
Fire-related tree cover loss in the tropics has increased around
5 % each year over the last 20 years .
Scientists recently discovered that the 2015-2016 Amazon drought was caused by a complex combination of global warming , regional land use and land cover changes converging with the ecosystem dynamics — in other words , by human impact . Drought leads to wildfires and the cycle escalates over time , putting the Amazon and its threatened species and communities at great risk .
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